Is America Under God’s Covenant Curse?

Hey, Pastor Adriel here, and we want to hear from our podcast audience specifically.

Give us a call at 1130 Pacific Time, 833-843-2673. That's 833, the CORE, with your question about the Christian faith. Is the United States under God's covenant curse? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day.

And we get some interesting ones, as we'll discover. You can call us right now with your question at 833, the CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media accounts. You can watch Adriel live right now in the studio on YouTube and message us that way. And of course, you can always email us your question at questions at corechristianity.com.

First up today, let's go to Dan in Wichita, Kansas. Dan, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hi, thanks for taking my question. I've been studying Romans 12, and I like to talk about Romans 12.1, where Paul writes, basically towards the end, or towards the middle, he writes, present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice. So what does he mean by holy sacrifice? Because I didn't think that we could be holy as humans.

Hey, Dan, thanks for that question. Well, we certainly are holy before the true and the living God, if we're united to Jesus Christ. The Church is holy. That's one of the attributes of the Church.

She's holy, not because she's perfect, not because she is without sin, but because she's united to the Holy One, Jesus, who is the head of the Church. And so, insofar as you are, as I am, as we are united to Jesus Christ by faith, we are in him. We're called holy ones, saints.

You see this language throughout the New Testament. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, and he refers to them as saints, it's that word, holy ones. And so there is a sense in which positionally, before God, we are as Christians holy. Now we're holy, and yet we're still sinful. We still struggle every day to honor the Lord, to obey God's law.

That's just the reality. Martin Luther, the way he talked about it, he said we're at the same time just and sinful. We're justified by faith in Jesus Christ, and yet we know that we still have this battle with the flesh. Paul talks about it in Romans 7, in Galatians 5.

But you can refer to yourself as holy as one who belongs to the Lord. And so I think that's part of what the Apostle Paul is getting at there in Romans chapter 12. He's saying, look, on the basis of what I've already said, especially in the earlier chapters of the Book of Romans, where he talked about this free justification that we have in Jesus Christ, he's saying, look, on the basis of all that, by the mercies of God, by what God has done, his mercy to you, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Now, how are we acceptable to God? Again, it's not anything in us, inherent in us, it's through Jesus Christ and what he has done, the Holy One who has cleansed us and washed us with his blood.

That's why we can come before God confident because of our great high priest, Jesus Christ. And so Paul there in Romans chapter 12 is drawing on the sacrificial language of the Old Testament, but it's been transformed in Christ. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for sins. Now, we present ourselves as these living sacrifices of thanksgiving to God. We don't make atonement for sin, we don't make sacrifices like they did under the Old Covenant, but we offer our lives to the Lord in light of what God has done for us, in light of the mercies of God, as Paul says there. And it's interesting because this language of sacrifice and what it means for us to offer sacrifices to the Lord now under the New Covenant is something we see in other places as well, not just there in Romans chapter 12, but also in the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 13. Really interesting what the author to the Hebrews says there. Through him, that is through Jesus, Hebrews 13, 15, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. And so, Dan, it's really beautiful how this language is being pulled from the Old Testament, and it's through him by the mercies of God that we offer ourselves to the Lord and to one another, and that is an act of worship for the Lord before the Lord. And so, hey, thank you for that question, and may God bless you. Thanks, Dan, for calling us here at Core Christianity and for digging into God's word. We always admire that among our listeners when people are really dedicated to learning more about the scriptures. Well, let's go to a voicemail that came in from one of our listeners in Illinois this week.

Hell yeah, this is Michael. Greatly appreciate your program. My question is in light of the chaos that we call governance nowadays, I was reminded that someone once said there was an Old Testament curse where the Lord said as a result of the children's missile rebellion, he would give them leaders that were as children. I wondered where that was and what references were because I think we're living it. Thank you and blessings.

Bye. Hey, thanks for that question. So in particular, the passage of scripture that you're referring to is found in the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter three, verse four. God's speaking to his people. Earlier in Isaiah, it's interesting, he called his people, his covenant people, Sodom and Gomorrah. He was saying, look, you guys have gone so far, you're actually worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. And so he's talking about this judgment now on Judah and Jerusalem. And part of that judgment was these leaders. Verse four of Isaiah chapter three, I will make boys their princes and infants shall rule over them and the people will oppress one another, everyone his fellow and everyone his neighbor.

The youth will be insolent to the elder and the despised to the honorable. And so this was a part of God's curse, yes, on his covenant people, on Judah and Jerusalem because of their unfaithfulness to his covenant, the spiritual adultery, if you will, idolatry, chasing after other gods, embracing the ways of the nations, God is bringing this curse. And those curses were outlined in the Old Testament, in particular in the book of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy chapter 28, you have this language of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.

But here's what you need to understand. And this is why the context of scripture is so important, where we are in redemptive history and the story of God. Those covenant curses related to the nation of Israel, they had to do with the old covenant. Israel was under the old covenant and she had an obligation, a job to do in terms of being faithful to God. And God says, if you're not faithful, you're going to be cursed. And again, you can read those covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28 verses 15 and following. And that's a part of what the prophet Isaiah is talking about in Isaiah chapter three.

Now, let me make something absolutely plain to you. America is not God's covenant people on the earth today. We are not the holy nation of God on earth today. Israel in the Old Testament was a type of the church today. The holy people, the holy priesthood, the holy nation, if you want to point to one, it's the church of Jesus Christ that is scattered abroad throughout the world in every nation.

And churches, local churches are these embassies, if you will, of the kingdom of God. And so we have to be careful that we don't say, well, America is under God's covenant curse of Deuteronomy 28, because America is not in covenant with God in that sense. In another sense, we could say that all the nations of the world are in covenant with God through the Noahic covenant. You remember that covenant that's described in Genesis chapter nine, I believe, where God is talking about this just sort of common covenant for all the nations of the world, whereby they're called to exercise justice, to do good, to build societies. Well, in that sense, we could say, yeah, America is called to those things and accountable, just like every other nation of the world before the true and the living God, we're accountable to God for how our governors are accountable for how they govern and so on and so forth. But we are not, as a nation, in covenant with God as Israel was.

God's covenant people, the new covenant people, are the church, those who have been united to Jesus by faith. And so really important that we make that distinction. And I think that when we do, it helps us to put things in perspective. Appreciate that question and may the Lord bless you.

Great explanation. Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

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So jump on your phone right now. 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

Let's go to Christine in Camdenton, Missouri. Christine, what's your question for Adriel? Hi, thank you for taking my call.

God bless you guys. Here's my question. I go up to a person and I say to them, do you believe that Jesus Christ rose bodily from the grave? And they say back to me, yes. Now, is that it? They're born again? Hey, Christine, thank you for that question. Well, that is central to the Gospel belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And you see this all over the place. In fact, John in 1 John 4 says that one of the strategies of the Antichrist is to confuse people about the identity of Christ and the work of Christ. And what the spirit of the Antichrist was doing in the Apostle John's day is telling people, convincing people through false teachers that Jesus did not really come in the flesh. So someone who says, I believe that Jesus truly came in the flesh and that he rose again from the dead.

That's true. And that belief is central to the Gospel. You think of what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15. If Christ is not risen from the dead, we're doomed. We're still in our sins.

We're in trouble. Now, of course, there are some people who will say those things. So they'll say, I believe that.

Yeah, I believe that. But they really don't understand what that means or the implications of Christ's work, his life, his death, his resurrection. Sometimes people will talk about this as a kind of historical faith.

That is, they're willing to give this sort of mental assent to the historical Jesus. Yeah, I think he really existed. And sure, he was this supernatural being, if you will. Okay, I guess I could say that he rose again from the dead. There was actually, famously, this guy, he was a Jewish man who affirmed the resurrection of the dead.

I think his name was Pinchas Lapid. And he has this whole book on the resurrection of the dead and why he embraced it. But he was a Jew.

He remained Jewish. He didn't believe in the Christian faith. But he just said, look, there's so much evidence for the resurrection when you think about the historical accounts. And so he said, yeah, I think that this actually happened, but he didn't confess Jesus as Christ was revealed in scripture.

So I think that there can still even be confusion there, Christine. It's not enough to just say, yeah, I affirm these sort of historical realities. That doesn't exhaust what faith is. Faith is also, I mean, this is a part of what faith is, trusting in Jesus Christ personally. So yes, I believe he lived. I believe he died for my sins. I believe he rose again from the grave for my salvation, for my justification. Paul said he was risen for our justification. So that's what people need is not just to be able to parrot the truth that we find in the Bible, to repeat them, or to say, yeah, I think that that's plausible, that kind of a thing. No, we need to trust in Christ personally for ourselves because we recognize that we're sinners, that we're hopeless apart from him. And so just because someone said that, I don't think we could say, well, okay, you're good. You're in the clear. I think that that is true.

That's central. A person who doesn't believe in the resurrection of the dead, if that's the case, well, then I don't think that they can be saved if they reject that central tenet of the gospel. I mean, that's the essence of core Christianity. But I think we should encourage people to go deeper, to recognize that these truths, the truth of who Jesus is and what he did, are very personal for each and every one of us, and that we need to embrace them as such. Christ's resurrection isn't just this thing out there in history.

It relates to you specifically. If Jesus rose from the dead, there's no more important message in the universe, and you can have hope in the face of death because of what Christ has accomplished. So really important.

And Christine, thanks for your question. I love how you continually come back to the whole aspect of trusting in Christ, trusting in Christ for your salvation. And of course, repentance is key there, turning from your sin and trusting that God, through his Son, paid the penalty for your sin. And that can make way for a relationship with God. And so important.

And I'm so glad you mentioned that. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Gaylene in Topeka, Kansas. Gaylene, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hey, Gaylene. Hello.

Are you there? Hey. Yeah, yeah, I was wanting to ask a question.

All right, what's your question? Yeah, I'm a vast religion, and I'm the church, but anyway, I have been sick quite some time, for like five years now, and I've been like in the corner mine and all these other things and sin and stuff, and I've been fighting it. But I just got a hospital for a thing go up in my heart.

My heart been bad because of stuff that's going on in my life. How could I ever be, get close to the Lord ever again? I know he's kind of far distant from me. I believe he sent his only one, God and Son, to the cross for me. I believe that in my heart, with a shadow of doubt, I believe that.

He's dying for me. And so I had a struggle with suicidal. And other people, you know what I'm saying? And I'm praying for people, you know, and people that really believe, but I'm just wondering why is people won't get another chance to live to get or be revived back. God would give a chance to be close back in relationship.

Yeah. Hey, Gaylene, thank you for that question. The first thing I want to do, just listening to some of the struggles you've had, is I just want to pray for you right now. I'm grateful to hear that you just got out of the hospital, so may the Lord continue to raise you up. Father, we lift up Gaylene to you. We pray that you would pour out your spirit, Lord, that you would bring healing, that, Lord, you would bring comfort, a sense of your presence, a sense of your love, and, Father, that you would just be at work in this situation. And we ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. So a passage of scripture that comes to mind. So it sounds to me like you've had a lot of medical issues that you feel like are keeping you from being able to serve the Lord like you want to serve the Lord.

Let me say something, brothers and sisters. God can work and does work so often in and through our weaknesses. We think that if, man, if I was just so strong and if I could just speak better and if I could just have more energy, then I would really be effectively used for Jesus. But oftentimes it's in and through our struggles that the Lord shines through. And the person who made this absolutely clear is the Apostle Paul when he said in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7, to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But the Lord said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For then I am weak. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I am strong. Galene, Christ is present with you.

You know that you've been forgiven. You feel weak, but know this, in our weaknesses, Christ is made strong. And the Lord can use you still even in these situations and through these situations. And so may God strengthen you. And sometimes him strengthening us in these circumstances looks like the presence of Christ holding us up, even when we're struggling with thickness and other things. And so may the Lord be with you, and may the Lord bless you, and may the Lord continue to use you as I'm sure that he does, even in light of the current circumstances.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder that we have a podcast. You can listen to us on the podcast app. And if you like this program, make sure to give it five stars. What that will do is let a lot of other people know about the podcast, and they can tune in, and they'll be growing spiritually as well. So check that out on the podcast app. Look for Core Christianity.

Let's go to Dale in Lincoln, Nebraska. Dale, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yes, I see in Genesis that it is not good for man to be alone. What can you tell the single brothers who are desiring to meet? Yeah, Genesis 2, verse 18, the Lord said, It is not good that man should be alone.

I will make him a helper fit for him. I mean, this is a part of the creation of man, Adam and Eve, there in the garden called to serve the Lord together in carrying out his will in the world. And we know that this is a wonderful thing.

This is a beautiful thing. We know that there are many people who are single right now. And so a couple of things. One, I think if you're single and you desire to be married, that's a good thing. I mean, the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter seven, It's better to marry than to burn with passion. Some people have the gift of singleness, we might say, and they feel like this is how the Lord is going to use them.

That's also a good thing. Again, Paul talks about that in 1 Corinthians seven. But if that's not you, if you feel like, I don't think I'm called to singleness, well, then you pray and you seek the face of the Lord. And Paul says, We're free to be married so long as we marry someone who is in the Lord. And so I think praying and putting yourself out there to get to meet people who love and know Jesus is a good first step. I think the church is the best place to probably meet someone.

And so that's just my personal opinion. But I think you have to also cultivate the grace of contentment. And so waiting upon the Lord, not trying to take things into your own hands per se, and maybe settling. I see a lot of Christians do that, Dale, is they want to be with someone and they find someone that's interested in them.

It doesn't really matter that they aren't that spiritual or don't really have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, or don't go to church. But it's just, I want to be with someone. And so I'm going to just settle for this person.

No, we need to be patient. We need to cultivate that grace of contentment in our lives. And we need to look to the Lord and say, God, you provided for Adam there in the garden. And if this is your will, I trust that you'll also provide for me in your timing. But help me in the meantime to trust in you, to continue to walk with you and be faithful and to honor you. And so that's what I would say, Dale, and may the Lord bless you. Thank you. Thanks for calling, Dale. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Robert in Stroud, Oklahoma. Robert, what's your question for Adriel?

Hi. Back in 1997, I turned my life over to Christ, and then I went back out and started partying again in like 2000. And recently I dedicated my life to God again, but it seems like I've lost that spiritual connection. I don't feel it anymore.

Am I doing something wrong or not doing something? Hey, Robert, welcome back, right? I think of the parable of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15, where you have this guy who's blessed by his father immensely, and then he wanders off, and he goes to the party scene, and he lives apart from God for some time until he realizes, he comes to his senses, he realizes, what am I doing here? And he goes back to his father's house, weighed down with a sense of shame, with a sense of guilt, with a sense of, I don't deserve this.

I may not even be accepted. He works up this plan in his mind. He's going to go to his father's house and say, just let me be like one of your servants. And boy, remember that story in Luke 15, the father, right? He runs to his son, and he wraps his arms around him, and he throws a party for him. And he clothes him in the finest clothes, and he puts some nice jewelry on him, and he says, this is my son.

He was dead, but now he's alive. That's God's heart for us, and it was God's heart for you when you came back. Don't worry about the feelings. Too often we're looking for a feeling.

That's not the main thing. Faith is not the same as a feeling. Sometimes our faith and our relationship with the Lord, there are feelings associated with it. What you need to focus on right now, Robert, is on the word, what God has said in his word. And he says that when we come to him, when we confess our sins, when we believe in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. And now I think growing in your understanding of the scriptures, reading the Bible every day, praying, becoming a part of a local church, a community of believers, I hope that that's something that you're in right now. And if you're not in a local church right now, a good Bible teaching church, that you're going to prioritize that because we need that kind of community, a place where we're going to continue to learn and grow in the scriptures. And so, no, you're not doing anything wrong. If you're fixing your eyes on Jesus, if you're saying, God, I realized that I was in a bad place now.

I want to come back to you. Well, the Lord welcomes you and may God continue to bless you as you seek to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at CoreChristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833, the core. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together. Thanks for listening to today's episode of Core Christianity. Adriel and I love our podcast audience and we'd love to take your questions. Give us a call Monday through Friday at 1130 a.m. Pacific Time at 833-843-2673. That's 833, the core.